


I'm Gonna Keep You Safe

by officiallyrogers



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Blood and Injury, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, F/M, Fluff, POV Second Person, Please Don't Hate Me, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 10:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11159817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/officiallyrogers/pseuds/officiallyrogers
Summary: One meeting with Tony Stark makes you love him harder than you've ever loved before. You join his world of the Avengers and become Tony Stark's priority and the love of his life. But as the good things come, so do the bad things.





	I'm Gonna Keep You Safe

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so warning; if you can't handle blood, turn away. This one shot fic thingy isn't for you because this will mention a lot of blood.  
> And apologies for my science in this. I hated science at school and hoped that what I wrote (as I went along) makes sense. If it doesn't, apologies. I got the information about nitramene and Vita radiation from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki pages.  
> Note: Y/N means your name and Y/L/N means your last name!  
> And so I hope you really, really enjoy it! Leave me feedback and don't forget to give kudos!  
> Leela x

_Run, run, run. Get away from here. Don’t stop- maybe just for a little bit- no. Keep going._

You’re running. As fast as you can. The wind runs through your hair and you hear your footsteps running. It’s dark and you’re running anywhere that isn’t a tree illuminated in the moonlight. You can’t breathe and your lungs desperately need to get some air into them- but that’s okay, because you’re still alive. You’re still running. For now. Your head snaps to look behind you, to see what – _or who_ – the bloody hell is chasing you. You hear a howl and the first thing you think is ‘ _great, wolves_ ’ and it’s not long before you bump into a wall – seems really warm and well toned for a wall? – and it’s only when your scared eyes focus on the stranger that you realise it’s Tony.

Tony Stark. The love of your life. The same brunet who’s always there to save your ass even when you can’t save it yourself. Your shaking hands clutch at his chest and your lungs finally manage to get some oxygen as he cups your cheek. Those brown worried eyes are staring into yours – his eyes screaming questions of “ _are you okay?_ ” and “ _are you hurt?_ ” as he searches your body for any injuries. You remember when you first met him, back when he accompanied Steve on a trip to the book shop you worked at.

_You bid your customer a goodbye before grabbing the latest teenage fiction releases and started to assort them on a table. You grabbed a few books from the newly delivered box and the bell above the door rang, indicating someone had come in. A tall blond man came first followed by a shorter – but still tall – brunet but their backs were facing you. You couldn’t see either face._

_“Steve, why don’t you just buy a Kindle?” You heard a man say. You’d heard the voice before but you can’t place it. You continued to place the books on the table, placing the new teenage fiction in order by author as the conversation behind you continued._

_“I don’t want a Kindle. I like the feel of an actual book in my hands. And plus, technology and I aren’t the best of friends yet. I can grasp the laptop and a phone but not the Kindle.” You heard the other man, presumably Steve, say._

_“Oh c’mon, Steve! It’s easy, I’ll show you how!” The first man said and part of you desperately wanted to see who this guy was. To see if his amazing voice matched a face. But you were too scared to turn._

_“You would show me… only for the first five minutes before you’d decide to tinker with it and three days later, it’s not a Kindle anymore. You did that with my watch.” Steve chuckles and you couldn’t help but smile._

_“You should be grateful about the watch!” He said, easily avoiding the matter about the Kindle. “It transforms into a glove and it emits a high electric voltage of a 1 mile radius to make your enemies unconscious so you can make a quick getaway!” He said and you frowned deeply. Enemies? Were they mobsters? Troublemakers?_

_"Thank you for the upgrade but nonetheless. It wasn’t a watch after what you’d done with it.” Steve said and chuckled and Tony just sighed._

_“Whatever. That’s the last time I’ll do a favour for you-”_

_“You always say that. You’re always tinkering and upgrading.” Steve said, chuckling some more._

_“-just get what you wanna get. I’ll pay.” The other man said and you saw from the corner of your eye that the blond had walked off to the art section the store had while the brunet started to wander around the store, looking at the science fiction books near you. You were probably staring too long because then your books fell out of your grip and to the floor, making you jump. Quickly looking away from the brunet, you kneeled to retrieve them._

_“Hey, you want some help with that?” It was the man._

_“No, no, I’m okay, tha-” and everything stopped. You looked at him and your breath got caught in your throat. Oh, he wasn’t a mobster or a troublemaker. It was Tony Stark… holy shit, Tony Stark was in your bookstore?! Tony Stark was in your bookstore! You couldn’t take your eyes off him. You couldn’t take your gaze off his eyes, his big, puppy dog, beautiful brown eyes. His brown hair was tousled upwards a little (like bed hair but a daytime style) and his goatee was perfectly trimmed, outlining his jawline and holy motherloving cow, you wanted to feel that goatee. Feel it on your fingertips. Feel it against your inner thig- you heard someone clear their throat, making you look at them. It was the blond guy, Ste- oh no. Oh no. Captain America?! This was not how you were expecting your day to go but it was a good day. It’s not every day that a living legend comes to your bookstore accompanied by his beautiful brunet friend. Steve went on to buy a couple of sketchbooks and a few packs of new coloured and sketching pencils and Tony leaned against the till as you scanned the items._

_“Are you busy tonight…” he sees your name tag, “Y/N?” He asked you and Steve sighed, looking at you like he was about to apologise._

_“I’m sorry about hi-” he starts and you smiled back at Steve._

_“It’s okay, Captain America and yes, I am busy, Mr Stark.” You replied, scanning the sketching pencils._

_“Oh please, call us Steve and Tony. Any other day you’re free on?” He said smoothly and if any other guy tried a line like this, you’d give them a glare and tell them to back off. But this was Tony. And it wasn’t because he was well known and famous. There was… something about him… that was interesting to you. You wanted to know this guy. For real. You finished scanning the items and you totalled up the amount due._

_“That’s $56.95 please.” You politely asked and Tony swished out his card, his face expression a little annoyed that you didn’t answer his question as you packed the items in a bag. With a smile, Steve thanked you and took the bag as you handed them their receipt. The two started to walk off and you spoke up._

_“Starky! To answer your question…” Tony stopped and turned to face you. “Tomorrow is my day off. Maybe you can show me that watch that emits a high electric voltage of a 1 mile radius. I’m interested in how that works.” You said and he smiled wide, his eyes wide before telling you to come to the Avengers Tower at 11am. You showed up the next morning and he showed you the watch before showing you more inventions that you marvelled at. You loved each one. And then- and then- and then, he asked you out. Over time, you felt yourself fall harder in love with Tony and both of you trusted each other. He was always there for you and you were always there for him._

The memory makes you smile as he presses his forehead against yours, – the simple gesture screaming that he was grateful that you were alive – his eyes staring into your eyes and it’s only when you hear a twig snapping behind you that both of you snap out of your trance.

“Get behind me.” He whispers and raises the gauntlet he has wrapped around his arm. His armour. “Cap? Where are you?” he whispers, presumably into his earpiece. “Yeah… keep looking then… okay- meet me at the tower, I’ll be there with Y/N.” He whispers before he’s got one knee on the floor, his right arm thrust outwards with his palm facing up with his left arm, his hand made into a fist, raised in the air above his head. Before you can ask what the hell he’s doing, you see a faint glow in the dark night sky. Then it separates to several faint glows coming closer before you realise they’re parts of his suit, flying to him. Each suit part attaches to him, clunking and attaching into place before he stands up, turning to face you. His faceplate is still open and he’s looking at you.

“How did you get here if you weren’t wearing your suit?” You ask, stepping towards him.

“I came in the Quinjet with the others. I had to find you and see you were safe.” He says and you can’t help but smile softly at him. He didn’t have his armour on. _He could’ve gotten hurt while searching for you._ And people think doesn’t care. Oh, he cares alright.

“We need to go as soon as we can. You afraid of heights?” He asks you and you frown in confusion before it dawns on you. He’s going to carry you _in the air_. You’re already shaking your head.

“No, Tony- please. I’m fucking terrified of heights, Jesus- I’ll end up collapsing from fear or something-” Suddenly, everything goes black because you’ve closed your eyes and you can’t talk anymore, your voice has stopped because he’s kissing you. Your eyes are opening now to see that Tony’s lips are on yours and you lean into the kiss, your eyes closing again as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“Don’t be scared.” He whispers once he pulls away. “I won’t drop you. Have I ever?” Tony asks and you squinted your eyes at him.

“You did that one time at the Halloween party-” you say before he cuts you off.

“That was one time! I did it by accident!” He chuckles out, smiling that _gorgeous_ smile at you, the one where you can see his laughter lines and God, you _love_ it so much. You take a deep breath and nod, mentally readying yourself for the fact that you’ll be flying in the sky _high_ above the ground.

“I’m ready. Let’s fly, Starky.” You say, smiling at the nickname that you jokingly gave him when you first met.

“Only if you stop calling me that.” He says, trying to be serious but he can’t help but let a smile rise to his face as his faceplate drops and steps towards you. You circle your arms around his neck and hold on for dear life as his thrusters come online and you’re suddenly floating in mid-air with Tony.

“Hold on tight.” You hear his voice say. It’s electronic now and you do as he says, jumping to wrap your legs around his waist. He uses both hands to boost his flight and you lean in closer to him, nuzzling your face in his neck. He’s careful with his speed – going fast but not that fast – so that you don’t fall from his arms. You look below you as the forest you were running in suddenly changes to the city and you see the Avengers Tower in sight. You gasp in awe from how beautiful the city looks (it catches your breath every time) at night but also in fear from how fucking high you two are.

“Nearly there, beautiful.” Tony says to you and you smile at the compliment. You land on the balcony of the tower and you step back as Tony steps out of his suit, the suit stepping away as the brunet wraps his arms around your waist and hugs you.

“What was chasing you in the forest? What happened?” You hear Tony ask you in your ear and you close your eyes.

“I don’t know what or who it was. I was hoping you guys would help with that.” You whisper and your grip on the billionaire gets stronger and he rubs your back.

“You’re safe,” he whispers, kissing your forehead, “I’ll keep you safe.” You pull away from the hug and smile at him before you join your lips against his. The kiss is soft, his lips like a jigsaw puzzle fitting perfectly against yours. You feel a hand on your cheek – Tony’s hand is so soft and it makes your heart swoon every time he touches you – and he’s stroking your cheek before his fingers are combing through your hair. You feel your bodies press together against each other and your hands are combing through his hair, messing it more than it usually looks. The way your lips touch his, the kiss is so calm and so tranquil. Like nothing else can ruin the moment-

“Tony!” You and Tony jump and pull away in surprise, seeing the other Avengers at the doorway of the lounge. Natasha’s smirking at you and you hide your blush, looking down at your feet before Steve approaches you and Tony.

 _You remember the first time you met Natasha. She wasn’t the demonic scary type like Tony or Clint said she’d be. In fact, she welcomed you with open arms. Even Steve and Clint looked at her weirdly, as if to say,_ ‘what are you up to?’ _Every time you and Tony had a date, she’d ask for details (leaving the sex out) and she became your best friend out of the whole team._

_“Don’t scream at him for this, but Tony said you’d be scary, like demonic scary. You’re nothing like that.” You said to her one evening after a date with Tony. You told her the details and usually afterwards, you two would catch up on each other._

_“Of course, he’d say that. When I was undercover for Fury watching over him a few years ago, yeah, we hit it off the way any billionaire and undercover spy would hit it off.” She said._

_“And what way is that?” You asked._

_“That if he did something wrong, I’ve got complete permission and authority to kick his ass.” She said, chuckling and you chuckled along._

_“But that doesn’t answer my question. Like I’ve seen how Clint is around with you. You two are together but if he goes a little overboard with a joke, you’ll glare at him and he’ll shut up.” This made Natasha smile. “But you’re not like that with me.” You added._

_“Maybe because… the girls I know in the Red Room where I was trained- where I was raised, they weren’t like you. Funny. Sarcastic. Sweet, kind and caring. You’re a real sister to me, Y/N.” She said and you smiled at her. “If you tell the others I said this to you, I’ll push you off a roof.” The threat was empty and was followed by a small smile. She’d threaten you with affection._

_“My lips are sealed, Nat.” You said, smiling._

Natasha stands in between Clint and Steve, giving you a small wink and you blush harder, jokingly rolling your eyes at her.

“You two can show your love to each other later-”

“Oh, trust me, I will.” Tony interrupts and winks at you playfully. Steve just smiles and chuckles softly.

“- but now we need to keep Y/N safe. We… found out what was chasing her.” Suddenly Steve’s voice is quiet and the look him and Tony share is one of concern.

“What did you find?” You find yourself asking, all the humour from mere moments ago put aside. You hate being the only one who doesn’t know anything. Steve faces you and he looks worried. Steve has been like an older brother to you and you appreciate the care and concern he has for you.

“An AIM base. But the thing that was chasing you was a genetically modified animal.” Your heart starts racing. “And we found pawprints on the floor. Maybe their experimentation went wrong because it was far from you. Maybe it hasn’t fully acquired its sense of smell yet. Otherwise you would’ve been dead. Or maybe it has acquired it and it sniffed out something else. Or maybe its smell is weird after the experimentation. But nonetheless, you’re lucky to be alive.” You felt a hand in yours and you didn’t have to look at it to know it was Tony’s hand. You just _knew_ his touch.

“But why would the animal want Y/N?” Tony asked. Thank God, he asked the question that was bugging you. You suddenly couldn’t find your voice anymore.

“We’re not sure why but we’re gonna make sure that you’re safe.” Steve said, smiling a little to make it certain but how could you be safe from something you didn’t even know about? How did it look? How big was it? So many questions ran through your head and Natasha nudged your shoulder.

“That animal will have to get past my dead body to get to you.” She said confidently with a smirk and Clint had his hand on Natasha’s shoulder. “Same here, man. I won’t let those bastards even touch you.” He added and it worried you even more.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” You whisper and sigh softly, looking away from the assassins. Bruce – except for Thor who’s in Asgard – is the only one who hasn’t spoken. He’s been standing there thinking, his brows creased together. “How did you even get there- to the forest, I mean?” Bruce asked and you… didn’t say anything. That hadn’t occurred to you. Shit. How _did_ you get there?

You felt everyone’s eyes on you but you turned to see Tony looking at you worriedly, taking both of your hands in his now. Your heart rate is fast and it’s scaring you.

“I- I don’t know... I just woke up there- I woke up and something was wrong. There were people talking in a different room and- I just quickly called you guys via the Avengers card- and I ran and ran and ran until I saw Tony-” your words are tripping upon each other. You don’t know if someone drugged you or if someone took you by force and erased those memories. “I don’t know… Tony, I-” your voice sounds like it’s breaking and immediately Tony takes you into his arms.

“Shush… it’s okay, we’ll figure this out…” he whispers in your ear, stroking your hair. “Jarvis?” he asks, looking up at the ceiling.

“ _Yes, sir?_ ”

“Bring up all footage of the lounge in the Tower for the last 24 hours.” Tony asks as you lift your head from Tony’s embrace and a hologram screen comes up, footage of the lounge which leads to the corridor of your room on the screen. The time is moving fast; Jarvis has it on fast forward and your eyes are searching for any change. Nothing strange comes up.

“Bring up footage of the room Y/N was in.” Tony asks and Jarvis does so. Again, he has it on fast forward and all seems fine to you until Tony calls out to Jarvis to rewind a little and pause it. “Who was that?” Tony asks and it’s only when Jarvis has it on slow motion that you see a flash of men – about 3 or 4 – appearing, as one of them took you – while you were sleeping – in his arms and just as quick as they appeared, they disappeared.

“Jarvis, why didn’t you tell us about this?” Steve asks, his eyebrows furrowed as he watches the footage again.

“ _I’m sorry, Captain Rogers. My systems… failed to recognise this breach._ ” Jarvis replies and even though he’s an AI, you hear the regret in his voice. “ _My systems were breached. I think one of the intruders must’ve found access to my main control panel…I’m sorry, sir._ ” Jarvis says to Tony and if Jarvis was a real man by now, Tony would’ve given him a hug.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” He replies softly before he looks at you. “Did you feel different when you came out of the base? They didn’t do anything to you, did they?” Tony asks and you shake your head. Just as you do, a red line scans your whole body from head to toe before Jarvis speaks.

“ _Miss Y/L/N has not come across any experimentation. Her body scan is normal and her vitals are showing normal activity. The only difference is that she’s experiencing some type of shock. More likely from when she woke up in the base._ ” Jarvis politely informs you and you smile up at him before turning back to Tony.

“I’m fine.” You insist, smiling at Tony as you cup his cheek. He presses a quick kiss to your lips and looks up at the ceiling. “Keep running those scans on Y/N. I don’t wanna miss anything.” He says, looking back at you as Jarvis replies with a “ _yes, sir._ ”

“But why would they want you?” Bruce asks after staying silent. You shrug.

“I was unattended and they saw a chance. They took it.” You say, but it haunts you.

“But I mean… no offense, but you’re not exactly special-” he stops in his sentence when Tony gives him a glare as if to say, ‘ _she is special, shut your mouth_ ’. “I mean, ability wise. Like you don’t have the serum like Steve. You’re not Iron Man with a suit or anything. They could’ve taken Steve for his serum or Natasha for her valuable information in SHIELD but they took _you_. It doesn’t make sense.” Natasha starts talking to Bruce but her voice fades out.

You look at Bruce and then to Bruce next to him- wait, since when did Bruce have an identical twin? Then you realise, it’s not twins but it’s your vision going weird and fuzzy. Your insides feel funny and you hear Jarvis, just faintly speaking in the background.

“ _Sir, it seems Miss Y/L/N is experiencing some difficulties._ ” Jarvis says and just then, you fall to your knees, your hands bracing yourself on the floor and Tony is by you in a heartbeat. Dark red spots start dripping to the floor and you feel something trickling out of your nose. Blood. And it’s _yours_. It’s not long before you’re throwing up your breakfast and lunch from earlier in the day before lines of dark red are mixing with the mess of your digested foods on the floor.

“Bruce! Medical bay now!” Tony screams, already picking you up bridal style and rushing to get you to the medical floor that they have in the Tower. You’re throwing up more blood, staining Tony’s blue shirt but the brunet doesn’t even care.

“Tony…” you whisper, feeling weak before more blood spills from your mouth. Natasha’s at your side, dabbing your mouth with a rag to clean up the blood – with Clint helping her – while Bruce is rushing to get you hooked up to wires, trying to monitor your vitals and see what the hell is wrong with you.

“There’s an unknown substance inside her. They must’ve done something to her. She was most likely experimented on. Jarvis probably didn’t see it in the scan because it’s invisible. But it’s bad.” Bruce starts, looking at the screen which shows your cells as Tony holds your hand.

“What’s happening to her?” Steve asks worriedly, biting his nail nervously as he comforts Tony, placing his hand on his shoulder. Tony’s face is… well, he’s scared of losing you. Terrified. He looks like he desperately wants to cry but is keeping it in. You know that he’s lost nearly everyone in his life before the Avengers came along and that if something was to ever happen to you, he’d lose it. Big time.

“Her cells are dying. It’s like whatever they injected her with, her body is rejecting it. And her cells are decaying.” Bruce says and Tony doesn’t know what to do. But Tony _always_ knows what to do. He panics and you can see it on his face. In his eyes. The _fear_.

“What about me?” Steve asks.

“What about you, Steve?” Bruce asks, facing him.

“Could my serum help?” Steve says and Tony’s looking at him. Why didn’t he think up of that? “My serum also heals. Maybe- just maybe, it’ll heal Y/N too.”

“Steve, we can’t know if it would-” Bruce starts but Tony’s not listening to Bruce.

“What’s your blood group?” Tony asks, already grabbing for the blood transfusion pipe to use. This was going to work. It was going to be alright. This was going to work.

“It’s A positive.” He says, ready to roll up his sleeve.

“I’m A positive too.” You say and you can see it in Tony’s eyes when he looks at you. _Hope._

“Hook him up, Bruce.” Tony asks, trying to ignore the sight of you suddenly throwing up more blood, your clothes stained to the point where you feel your shirt sticking to your skin.

“Tony, you can’t do this, not knowing what’ll happen-”

“I’m not gonna watch her die!” He cries out, looking at Bruce with wide eyes and his jaw clenched before he looks down guilty for screaming at his good friend, his face softening as Tony looks at Bruce again. “I can’t lose her… please…” he whispers and Bruce sees it. The love Tony has for you and he nods, agreeing to help.

“What about the Vita-rays, Tony? There’s no Vita-ray chamber- I mean, like the one I was in when I had the serum. It won’t work with just the serum in my blood.” Steve says, looking at the brunet.

“I’ve got that sorted.” Tony says, smiling a little at you. You weakly smile back. “Sweetheart, listen, I need to go and get something really quick but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Okay?” he asks and you nod weakly, humming in reply. He kisses your forehead and you see him quickly rush off down the stairs and he disappears. A few minutes later, he’s running back up the steps and he’s holding something blue in his hand.

“What’s that?” Bruce asks, putting his glasses on to see the circular object better.

“Nitramene.” Tony says, taking the lid off the container and places it on the table. He grabs a syringe to stick it into the blue liquid, pulling the pump back as the syringe starts to fill up.

“Nitra-what?” Steve asks and you love the look of confusion on his face.

“Nitramene. An earlier version of one of my father’s deadliest creations he later recreated in 1946. The later version was a highly dangerous chemical compound but this is what helped you, Steve. This emits Vita radiation, the Vita-rays used in Project Rebirth. It’s got a specific wavelength and has stabilising properties. Before it became molecular, my father used it to emit radiation in your Vita-ray chamber you were in. That’s what made the serum stay as it is. Even though we don’t have a Vita-ray chamber here, this will help just as the same. It doesn’t last long _on_ people like clothes or on objects like your wristwatch but if it’s _in_ them, different story. Just gotta get 100ml of this and inject it into Y/N as your blood goes into her bloodstream, acting as a substitute for your chamber. It’ll last long enough to get whatever they injected in you out of your system.” He says as he takes the now filled syringe and turns to you. “Sweetheart, it’s gonna be alright.” He says to you and you look at Steve.

“Think of small little puppies.” He says to you. “I did.” He adds with a smile before he makes himself comfortable on a nearby chair. You smile at Steve weakly and then turn back to Tony.

“Do it.” You croak out before Tony looks to Bruce and nods.

You feel a small pinch in your arm and a few seconds later, it’s out of your arm. You look at your arm and chuckle weakly before looking up at Bruce who injected you.

“That wasn’t so bad.” You say, smiling a little. You couldn’t believe it was that easy?

“That was penicillin, Y/N. It’ll make the pain more bearable.” He says, now getting ready with the blood transfusion pipe to inject into Steve.

“Oh.” You mumble and Tony smiles and coos softly at you, mumbling about how cute you are when you’re confused.

“Don’t you worry, Y/N. I was the same.” You hear Steve say and you smile a little.

“A small pinch coming up, Steve.” Bruce softly pushes one end of the blood transfusion pipe, the needle slipping into Steve’s left arm and Tony sticks the other end into your arm. The transparent pipe now fills up with dark red as blood travels from Steve to you and into your arm. Just then, Tony injects the nitramene into you, one millilitre at a time. You hiss at the feeling of the new blood in your veins, feeling somewhat a battle between the unknown substance fighting with the serum locked in Steve’s blood. As the nitramene went on, Tony would mumble how much had gone in.

“10%.” Tony says, smiling reassuringly at you. “20%. That’s 30%.” He kept informing out loud.

“How are you feeling, Steve?” Bruce asks when they’ve reached 40% of nitramene having gone inside you and Steve nods, mumbling a “good”.

“50%... 60%... 70%...” he counts and he smiles because you’re nearly there. You’re nearly there and this whole mishap can get sorted out. Then you feel it. The burn in your veins rushing through your body like a raging fire as you shoot your head back in pain, letting out a scream.

“Natasha, hold her down!” Steve cries out, trying to be calm and still himself and Natasha nods at the order. “Y/N, you have to stay still! Fight the pain!” Steve calls out to you. Natasha’s hands are holding you down by the shoulders, Clint still cleaning up the blood spilling from your nose.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’ll be over soon.” You hear Tony’s voice in your ear and you hear everything becoming muffled.

“Tony!” You cry out, groaning in pain. You feel Clint wiping the sides of your face and that’s when you realise you’ve been crying. “C’mon, Y/N, you can do this.” Clint whispers in your ear, stroking your hair. Just like Steve, Clint was a brother to you but where Steve was the serious and protective brother, Clint was the opposite. Clint was the carefree and funny one. The one who you’d play pranks with and teach you how to perfect a prank, play Mario Kart matches with and so on. He was fun. Like the others, Bruce and Thor, you appreciated Clint very much.

Thor wasn’t around much – what with his brother causing mischief across the Nine Realms – but when he was, Thor was a delight. He was like a party animal, always binging on food (seriously, how did that guy keep his figure?) and sparring with the team for fun. He’d supply the team with Asgardian mead on parties and days where it’d been a rough day in exchange for poptarts and it was one hell of a hangover when you’d wake up but it was so worth it. Thor was that crazy high schooler or college student who’d go to every party with poptarts instead of alcohol (because he says Asgardian mead isn’t meant for high school or college mortals). Bruce was different and the opposite of Thor. Bruce liked to stay on the side and you and him would talk when you were with Tony in the lab, helping with something or marvelling at his latest creation. Bruce was quiet and was a good substitute for reading and listening to music on good days when you liked to sit with him in the lab and discuss science theories with him or check out cool inventions. You and he were good friends and you liked each other’s company.

You’re brought back to reality when you feel Clint dabbing your nose with a wet towel and Natasha was still holding you down as Tony injected more nitramene in, counting that he was at 80%. Every part of your body _hurts_ and is in pain. Your veins feel like they’ll rip out of your body and it hurts more to try and stay still like Steve said to.

“C’mon, girl, you’re doing so well. Don’t give up.” You hear Natasha say and for what feels like hours, Tony finally injects all the nitramene into you. You feel the burn slowly die down and he kisses your forehead as you look around you. Steve’s taking the needle out of his arm and he’s by your side in a matter of seconds. Natasha takes her hands off your shoulders, letting you get some space. Tony- Tony looks like he’s about to burst into tears.

“How do you feel?” He whispers and you breathe heavily, grabbing his hand to feel it in yours.

“Better… I think.” You say, your chest heaving heavily and Bruce looks at the screen, smiling. “We did it. The substance they injected her with is gone. The serum from Steve got rid of it.” Bruce said and Tony immediately turned to Steve and crashed their bodies together for a hug. Natasha sat by your side and dabbed a clean towel on your forehead, when you realise she’s soaking up the sweat that your body released a lot of.

“Thank you, Steve. I- I’m so grateful.” Tony whispers and Steve pats his back.

“Well, she’s safe and well. That’s enough.” Steve said and you mouth a ‘thank you’ at him, since you’re too weak to form words. He simply gives a nod back.

“Let Y/N rest. We’ll be back to see how you are.” Bruce says, leaving you and Tony alone.

“Sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be here.” Tony says to you and you feel your eyes get heavy with sleep before you finally fall asleep.

 

~

 

You wake up, seeing Tony scrolling on his phone with one hand, the other holding yours. He’s wearing a new shirt after the blood stains on the old one.

“Tony…?” You whisper and his head looks to you, the phone suddenly out of interest and his focus is on you now.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks and you nod, humming in reply before you remember your clothes, still covered in blood but it’s dry now. “God, you had me so scared… I thought something was going to happen to you…” he whispers and you smile.

“Nothing will happen to me.” You reassure him before he kisses your hand. “Can I shower? I’m covered in blood…” You whisper and he nods.

“Bruce says you’re ready to leave the bed now but no tedious activities- y’know, no tasks that’ll make you tired. You need rest. A lot of rest. The serum has left your system now otherwise you’d be like Steve, all muscles and abs and taller than me.” He says and this makes you smile. He picks you up bridal style and places you down on your feet in front of the shower and he starts to strip off your clothes, taking the blood-soaked shirt off your body. He tosses it in the hamper before asking you to hold onto him while he got rid of your trousers.

“Have I ever told you that your body is gorgeous?” He whispers and you feel your cheeks blush hard and you hide your face behind your hands.

“Tell me again, Mr Stark.” You tease, giggling softly when you hear him tell you that you’re beautiful before he takes off your bra and panties. His own clothes follow as he strips himself down naked before he turns on the shower, adjusting the temperature before he steps in, his hand holding yours as he guides you in. You feel the warm water – nearer hot – on your body and you let out a small sigh, feeling the warm water run down your body. Tony helps you with washing your hair and your body, his big hands soft and gentle against your skin. One of the things you love about Tony is that he’s nothing like what you’ve seen about him in the tabloids.

**Tony Stark: the genius with a big ego!**

**Stark: a girlfriend every two weeks! Get a grab while you can!**

**Iron Man: the peace keeper who might be leading us into a new age of lies?**

Would a man with a big ego be so willing to sacrifice his life by taking a nuke into an alien wormhole? Would a liar be so honest about his nightmares and what haunts him at night? About what changes he wants? About how he doesn’t want to waste his second chance at life? You look at him with a small smile as he washes your chest, using a sponge to wash away the dried blood.

“What’cha thinking about?” He asks and you smile wide.

“How amazing you are and how wrong the tabloids are about you.” You whisper, your eyes fixed on the billionaire. He smiles at this.

“Well, I’m just glad I’ve finally found the right person who sees beyond that bullshit.” He whispers, leaning forward to kiss your lips softly. “I love you so much, you know that?” He says and you smile.

“I love you too.” You whisper.

After he’s done soaping your body, he washes the suds off and quickly dries you off with a towel before doing the same for himself. He leads you into the room the both of you share as you get dressed in a simple white shirt and red pyjamas, with Tony opting for a simple black vest with dark grey pyjamas before he lays down with you in your bed.

One thing that keeps bugging you…

“Why did they take me?” You ask him and he looks at you unsure.

“I don’t know.” He answers truthfully. “But I know that it’ll never happen again. I’m gonna keep you safe.” He whispers and kisses your forehead. It still bugs you but it doesn’t matter because Iron Man is your boyfriend. Captain America, Black Widow, the Hulk, Hawkeye and the almighty Thor are your best friends. No one can touch you now. You cuddle with him, your body pressed up against Tony’s as he intertwines your fingers with his, a wide smile on your face.

“I’m safe.” You whisper.

 

[ finish ]

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I tried! Don't forget to leave a comment about your thoughts! :)


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